As reported by Business Insider UK, the U.S. Postal service is to increase its prices by as much as 12% for Amazon.
Although the USPS is claiming otherwise, some commentators have suggested that this might have something to do with U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of what he believes is Amazon’s exploitation of the service.
The USPS has stated they are necessary increases in order to keep itself competitive
The price changes are set to come into effect from January 2019, with a price jump of 12.3% scheduled for its “lightweight parcel select service”. Non-lightweight parcels will go up by approximately 9%.
These alterations will first need to be cleared by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
It’s not only Amazon who is to be affected, with both FedEx and UPS also relying on the USPS to get certain deliveries to the customer’s door.
It is widely known that the USPS has been in trouble financially for a number of years, with a mandate to provide Americans with a low-cost delivery service limiting its ability to make a profit.
As ever, our question is whether or not third-party sellers will be asked to shoulder these increased costs? With many merchants relying on either Amazon’s FBA service or on companies like FedEx and UPS, it is not unlikely that sellers will see an increase in fees and delivery costs in the new year.
As ever, we will be on hand to report on any such proposals.
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